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Norwegian Fjords much better than expected

Sail Date:
July 2012

Destination:
Baltic Sea

Embarkation:
Southampton

The Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria are the same size and smaller ships laid out in the same way. The QE is much newer being just over 2 years old so is very modern. I've not been on the QV yet. We found the QE to be very quiet with hardly any engine noise at all. There are laundry rooms on every deck but you must take your own washing liquid. Irons, ironing boards and kettles are not provided in any of the rooms. The plugs were a weird assortment. I would recommend you take lots of adaptors including a shaver and toothbrush one. The hairdryer was very good.

Many people are very concerned about the position of their stateroom ie: fore, aft or midships. We've stayed in staterooms midships and aft and found little if any difference.

There are 2 or 3 formal nights on each voyage and everyone complies with the dress code. The ladies love it and the men moan about it!

Stateroom: Princess Grill: - QE -- P3 -- a very nicely decorated room. There More
was a nice walk in wardrobe with shelving and cupboard with safe and under bed storage. The bathroom was compact but very useable. There is a long vanity unit with a single bowl, the loo and a bath with shower over. The bath is very easy to get in and out of being very low. When you read some of the comments on Cruise Critic they make comments about the nasty shower curtain but it's not it's fine. It's a nice material and doesn't billow. The room was beautifully furnished. My only gripe was that the room was very narrow, only around 8'6" wide but probably around 25' long. We were on deck 4 and the balconies on this deck are deeper from front to back than those on higher decks. They were around 3 feet deeper. The balconies are very compact and the people next door were forever falling over their furniture. The soundproofing between the rooms is very good.

Princess Grill: We really didn't know what to expect having never travelled Princess Grill before. We were really pleasantly surprised and thrilled. The service was 1st Class, the food was fantastic and if you wanted anything special they would prepare it for you. Why pay to eat somewhere else when you can eat here all in. It was so good. They looked after us like royalty.

Entertainment: The Theatre was really lovely and the entertainment was very good. Much better than the QM2. Well done! The comedian was very good and flautist was enjoyable too.

Spa: Unfortunately the spa has been transferred from Canyon Ranch. I wasn't impressed with the management of it. The girl in the gym was VERY loud. She was taking a stretching class and everyone was well over 60. She didn't ask any of them if they had any problems before starting. They had to ask twice for the music to be turned down. It was blaring all day. If you got up there early, before she started, you could work out in peace. I wasn't keen on my treatment and I was not allowed to use the spa pool after. To use that very select area you had to buy a ticket for every day of the cruise which was very expensive and they only sold 40!!! Bring back Canyon Ranch!!!!

I really like the position of the Queens Room. It's in the middle of the ship and you can walk through it so you can see if events are going on. It's also easy to access and find. It's cosy. They serve afternoon tea in there every day and it's not to be missed.

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Cabin review: P24091

Princess Grill - P3 on Deck 4. Really lovely room and on deck 4 the balconies are 3-4 feet deeper from front to back. My only gripe is that these rooms are too narrow at only around 8'6" wide. They are plenty long enough but no passing room. The room was looked after very well. The wardrobe was sufficient. There was drawer space and storage under the bed. A wardrobe with shelving and the safe. The bathroom was compact but useable, one at a time. The bath was easily accessible as it's quite of worldwide electrical sockets. The best thing about these rooms is that they are midships. There was no motion and the ship is very quiet. I've uploaded a video of the room because before we went i couldn't find one anywhere.
http://youtu.be/_0CSi4oIWLM

Port and Shore Excursions

Very helpful and friendly people. The coach trip was over rated and over priced but a nice break. Would have had a great view but it was foggy and cold.
Gerainger: Would have been really lovely but for the fog but it did clear. Some people on the coach were desperate for the loo but the coach stopped in the area above where it was but didn't tell them. It was a longish trip to cope with without a comfort break so beware. Our son went kayaking and had a great time.
Skjolden: Absolutely stunning approach. The waterfalls was spectacular. The water like a millpond and so blue. It was a lovely day so we stayed on board and had a restful time. it was lovely.
Stavanger: A lovely little place. Very quaint buildings.I had told my husband and son about the Oil Museum before we went and they poo poohed it but when it came to it we did go in and it was very interesting and worth the visit.
All in all the Norwegians are very hospitable and friendly. It is very quiet and clean. There isn't much in the way of restaurants, cafe's or bars to stop off at. We made it back to the ship for refreshments, much better.